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Self-Correct as You Read is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on going back over an information text to fix understanding, aligned to Common Core standard RF.4.4. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 10 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Self-Correct as You Read

RF.4.4

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How Penicillin Was Found

In 1928 Alexander Fleming went on holiday and left a stack of dishes on a bench. Each held a colony of bacteria. When he came back, one dish had a spot of mould on it. Around the mould was a clear ring where the bacteria had died. Fleming realised the mould was producing something that killed bacteria. He named it penicillin and published a paper. Almost nobody noticed. Ten years later, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain read that paper and tried to make penicillin in quantity. That turned out to be the hard part: it took two thousand litres of mould fluid to treat one patient. By 1944 the problem had been solved and penicillin was reaching soldiers in the field.

  1. 1. What does "in quantity" mean here?
  2. 2. What is a "colony" of bacteria?
  3. 3. What did he see around the mould?
  4. 4. In what year did Fleming notice the mould?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

What a Coral Reef Is

A coral reef looks like rock and is built by animals. A coral polyp is a soft creature the size of a pinhead. It draws calcium from the sea water and builds a hard cup around itself. Millions of polyps, cup upon cup, become a reef. Inside each polyp live tiny algae. The algae make food from sunlight and pass most of it to the polyp. In exchange they get shelter and the polyp's waste. Neither could build a reef alone. When the water gets too warm, the polyps expel the algae. Without them the coral turns white and starves. That is what bleaching means. A reef takes centuries to build and can bleach in a single hot summer.

  1. 1. What does "bleaching" mean in this text?
  2. 2. How big is a coral polyp?
  3. 3. What does "expel" mean here?
  4. 4. What does the polyp draw from the sea water?

LessonPrint · RF.4.4 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Self-Correct as You Read

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. In quantity means in large enough amounts to treat patients — two thousand litres of mould fluid for one. 2. A group of bacteria growing together in one place. 3. A clear ring where the bacteria had died. 4. 1928.
  2. 2.1. Coral turning white and starving after losing its algae. 2. The size of a pinhead. 3. Push out — the polyps force the algae out. 4. Calcium.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RF.4.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.